Rise, Transit, and Set of the Sun, Moon, and Planets

Home

Site Map

GeoAstro
Applets

Astronomy

Chaos Game

Java

Miscel-
laneous

Planet Observer Applet

Sun, Moon, and Planets

Get this applet for offline use

Select northern latitudes positive, southern negative,
eastern longitudes positive, western negative.
(52° 31' N, 13° 25' E is Berlin, Germany, UT + 1h)

To use the key commands,
at first click into the red frame of the applet !

Key	Function
d	1 day forth
shift + d	1 day back
m	1 month forth
shift + m	1 month back
space	current date

Hold down the key "t" while selecting the planets to add the twilight times to the table.

Daylight
Select "Sun, Rise, Set" from the "Details" menu

daylight duration

Duration of civil twilight (rise/set to -6° altitude):
duration of
twilight

Rise and Set

The visibility of a celestial body depends on the latitude of the observer and on the declination of the body:

it is continually visible above the horizon during the entire diurnal travel (no rise or set) if

latitude + declination > 90° (northern hemisphere)
latitude - declination < -90° (southern hemisphere)
it will never rise above the local horizon (no rise, set, or transit) if

declination - latitude < -90° (northern hemisphere)

declination - latitude > 90° (southern hemisphere)

The last column of the applet is showing:

daylight hours (from rise to set of the Sun),
the illuminated fraction of the Moon, and the phase
(+) waxing, or (-) waning,
the visual magnitude of the planets.

The Moon

The Moon rises about 51 minutes later each day. Therefore there are days without rise, transit, or set, which occur about every 29 days (12 or 13 times per year):

To print the table copy and paste it into any text editor.

The times referr to the same calendar day, for example:
on Mar 02, the Moon rising at 11:08, transit at 19:30, will set at 03:46 next day. At 03:03 the moon is setting, which rised at 10:16 the previous day.

Extreme magnitude of the planets:

Rise time of Mercury, Venus, and Mars in 2012

From January to May Venus sets later than the Sun (blue),
and will be visible as evening star.

Mars rise
set transit diagram graph

Select "Horizon" from the "Details" menu to open the local horizon view:

topocentric view
horizon sun moon planets

Mercury and Venus: magnitude and angular separation from the Sun

magnitude amgular
separation

Select "Ecliptic" from the "Details" menu to open the ecliptic view:

Web Links

Why does the moon rise 50 minutes later each day?

jgiesen(at)t-online.de

Updated: 2023, Oct 06